Exploring Sinchon (Escape room, archery cafe, arcade)

I’ve been to Sinchon for a little bit a few times before but I wasn’t able to really make a lasting impression until now, when my friends and I spent the day exploring. Now I wonder why I haven’t spent as much time in this neighborhood. As someone trying to go out and experience as much as possible everyday, I can honestly say, my day in Sinchon was one of the most enjoyable days I’ve had that week. Not because we did anything or traveled anywhere particularly special but it was a nice, relaxed day doing things we wanted to do.

One of the first things we planned on doing in Sinchon was going to an escape room. (Side note: On our way there, the atmosphere was almost festival-like. There were a lot of people on the roads long-boarding, street-performing like in the cover image, and eating street food.) I’ve never done an escape room in America before so I can’t really compare but at the very least, I know that the prices here are definitely cheaper. I hear that prices in America are around $20 but one room here was $16, with a 30-50% discount on certain days at certain times. The escape rooms in Sinchon and Hongdae are available in both English and Korean. The place we went to had 5 different levels with the following room themes in order, Old Boy (Korean movie), Shawshank Redemption Saw, Mission: Impossible, and Harry Potter. We decided to be ambitious and pick the hardest one, being Harry Potter. We could see how barely anyone solved it, and while we weren’t expecting to win, we knew it was going to be fun either way. And it was. Apparently we finished about 40% of the challenge, making it to a second room which, as we were informed by the workers who could speak English, was a lot further than most people got to. It was a blast and I definitely plan on coming back again.

It still wasn’t time for dinner yet, thankfully, as another activity caught our eye. In the same building as the escape room, we found a place called, Robin Hood Archery Cafe. Not literally a cafe, but you could technically order drinks. It was 5,000 won for 9 arrows and a lesson, and 10-15,000 to play a game, as if you were going bowling. The workers saw that we mainly spoke English and they were super friendly. We even learned that one of the owners was an alumni of our school, Hanyang University. We were told that if we came back another day, they’d be willing to sneak extra time and arrows just for us. Although unplanned, it was a great time.

We went to Taco Bell for dinner because we were craving American food, but we noticed that there were definitely a wider variety of international restaurants (like Italian, Vietnamese, fusion, and so on) in Sinchon. After dinner, we still decided that it was too early to go home so we visited an arcade that one of our friends had found. Although I’m not quite sure what the name is, this place is located right near one of the exits of the station. As America doesn’t really have arcade places anymore, I didn’t think I’d really be the type to enjoy it but for 5,000 won for unlimited time, my friends and I easily spend 2-3 hours hopping from game to game and competing with and against each other. They had your typical fighting games, basketball games, DDR, darts, 4D arcade games, karaoke rooms, other rhythm games, claw machines (which does cost money but is VERY cheap, being 200 won per play), and more! Yes, I managed to get a bulls-eye while playing darts, win a plushie from the claw machines, beat my friend in basketball despite my lack of height, and get scared from a horror 4D game that blasted wind at you whenever a monster popped up.

I only realize now that I didn’t get as many pictures as I should’ve but I know we want to go back sometime so I’ll probably write about this place again!